Pirates' quarterback Shane Carden threw three interceptions and was sacked seven times in a 15-10 defeat to Virginia Tech in front of 50,096 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.

“(Virginia Tech) blitzed a bunch, more than we saw on film,” said ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill. “We have to adjust to it and get the ball out of there hot.

“They did a good job of executing there blitzes.”

The Pirates still had a chance in the waning moments.

Adonis Armstrong was flagged for running into the kicker on fourth-and-six from inside the 15-yard line.

He darted toward the kicker with hopes of blocking a potential Virginia Tech field goal.

ECU's defensive back missed the ball, and instead ran into Hokies' Cody Journell,

Five yards was assessed on the penalty, and Virginia Tech moved the ball to the 10-yard line.

The Hokies were stuffed on fourth-and-one, giving the ball back to ECU.

Carden was then sacked twice, the second one was in the end zone for a safety, and the Pirates (2-1) walked away with their first loss of the season.

“I have to look at the film and see who was blitzing, but that's a very good defense,” said Carden, who threw for 158 yards on 19-of-31 passing. “There were times we moved the ball well, then had sacks and turnovers that held us back.”

Virginia Tech's 6-foot-6 senior quarterback Logan Thomas passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once and sacked twice.

Warren Harvey's 44-yard field goal gave the Pirates a 10-7 edge with a little more than six minutes off the clock in the third quarter.

But four minutes later, Thomas dropped a 3-yard touchdown pass into the arms of wide open receiver D.J. Coles.

Journell missed the extra point. He also missed field goals of 38 and 40 yards.

“Defensive-wise, when it comes to the red zone, we don't want them to score,” said linebacker Brandon Williams, who led the Pirates with 12 tackles. “We go hard on defense every play, and try to make stands to give the offense more possessions.”

A scary incident occurred early in the third quarter. Sophomore defensive back Josh Hawkins was injured on a tackle and was carted off on a stretcher.

As his Pirates' teammates stood around him, Hawkins waved his arms, signaling he was alright.

“That's the family atmosphere that we do here,” McNeill said. “That's one of their brothers and I'm their dad, so it hurt to see your child out on the field like that.

“Josh has done everything we've asked of him. He is a good student, works hard, earned a scholarship and a starting spot. It was a tough moment.”

Page 2 of 2 - The Pirates needed just a minute, 39 seconds to score on their opening drive. Cooper had an 11-yard run and a 24-yard reception, setting up a 22-yard touchdown pass from Carden to Bryce Williams, his first career score.

“We came out excited to play,” Carden said. “We kept playing, then something would happen and our drive stopped and we couldn't really sustain our drives. It was frustrating.”

Thomas marched the Hokies 70 yards on their next possession. Thomas lobbed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Demitri Knowles.

A scoreless second quarter kept the game tied at halftime, 7-7.

Virginia Tech, known for its tenacious and aggressive defense, tackled Carden in the backfield four times in the first half.

Despite the pressure, the Pirates' junior completed 12 of his first 18 passes for 127 yards by halftime.

“East Carolina has an offense that is good,” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “They know what they are doing and they are good, but we didn't take the back out of the backfield and we helped them a little bit in that first series and they don't need our help.

After that, I think our defense played great. We got that safety at the end and got a rush on them twice and that was big.”

Following a bye week next Saturday, the Pirates travel to in-state rival North Carolina on Sept. 28.

Notes:East Carolina received the opening kickoff for the 14th consecutive game...The Pirates have scored on their first possession in all three games...ECU's Shane Carden threw his first interception in 86 pass attempts in the first quarter...Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 12-5...The teams are scheduled to meet through the 2020 season.

Adam Thompson can be contacted at 252-639-0057 or at Adam.Thompson@newbernsj.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.